Chapter 2
Everybody was in a panic. The soldiers were shooting arrows at the dragon; and villagers were running around looking for a place to hide. The dragon was breathing fire on the red armored soldiers who were shooting arrows at them.
"I am Alduin, the World-Eater. I have been gone for thousands of years. Now I have returned. AND I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
Holy shit. The dragon was talking. Did anyone else notice that, or was it just me?
"You there! Nord girl!"
Ralof? Someone had lifted me up bridal style and was carrying me to a tower. I was completely still. No, tensed. All throughout my body. I was a boulder. I couldn't believe I have just seen a dragon that close up. And was still alive. For now at least.
"Ralof! Hurry in here with that girl!" A man's voice. Nordic. But stronger. Maybe a little gruffer. We entered the tower and I heard a door close.
I had my eyes open, but didn't pay attention to my surroundings. "Jarl Ulfric! Are you alright?" That was Ralof. That was also him holding me, I realized. "Yes. For now at least." Likewise. Ralof put me down. "You okay there Nordic girl?" He asked me. I looked at him. I frowned. I almost fell backwards, but Ralof was kind enough to catch me and hold me up.
"She's in shock." Said the Jarl Ulfric. He was by the door. I swallowed. I took a deep breath, blinked a few times and then brushed Ralof's hands off me nodding slowly. "Are you sure you can stand Nord?" He asked. I nodded again.
My head was pounding and ached so bad.
"My name is Lilly." I said. Ralof nodded. "Ok Lilly. I'm Ralof," (He gestured to himself ) "That's Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak." He pointed him out by the door. The Jarl wasn't paying attention, he was looking up the tower. "We have to get out of here!" He said loudly. Ouch. Really, do you have to talk that loudly man? I thought.
"You're right!" Said Ralof. I realized Ralof and the Jarl weren't even bound anymore. And the Jarl was obviously not gagged anymore. I seemed to be the only one bound.
"How do we get out? We can't risk going out there again. We need cover." I said. Ralof nodded in agreement. The Jarl looked at me. "You're right. Let's see what's up the tower. We need to make our way out of this Gods-forsaken town." The Jarl said in a deep voice.
Just then, we heard the dragon roar and fire was blown onto the door near Ulfric and Ralof. They both jumped out of the way, and I tripped over a bucket and back into the staircase wall. Luckily I hadn't fallen down to the ground.
"Is everyone alright?" The Jarl asked when the fire breathing stopped. "Yes." Said Ralof getting his balance back. "I'm ok." I said. But my head still hurts like a motherfucker.
"Alright, we need to move, NOW!" Yelled Jarl Ulfric.
Ralof grabbed one of my hands and pulled me with him up the tower staircase. Ulfric was right behind me.
At the top of the staircase three Stormcloak soldiers were looking for a way out. One of them was coming back down when suddenly we heard the dragon roar, and the tower wall which we were about to cross near the top, exploded and the dragon breathed fire through it. Ralof threw himself around over me, so did the Jarl, until the fire passed and the dragon flew somewhere else to wreak havoc. The Jarl and Ralof slowly lifted off of me, and when I looked up the tower, the Stormcloak soldiers that were there had been burned to a crisp.
I swallowed hard. Poor guys. I thought. "Alright, Lilly, you see that inn right below us?" Ralof was looking out the broken wall and was pointing to an inn with a broken in roof. I nodded. "You need to jump down there and find cover. The Jarl Ulfric and I will join in a moment." He said. I looked behind me.
The Jarl was pale, but when we caught each other's eye, he nodded in agreement with Ralof. I walked up a little higher than Ralof, looked down, took a deep breath, and jumped.
I landed on my feet, but my knees buckled and I fell to my face. I picked myself up, and looked around for an escape from the broken inn.
I saw stairs at the end of the room to the left, walked briskly to them and carefully made my way down them. I went through a couple more archways, and then saw the dragon breathing fire at some red armored soldiers. I felt bad for them. Then I noticed a young boy gawking at the dragon.
I acted on instinct and bravely ran over to him, threw my bound arms around him mustered up all the strength I had and lifted him behind some broken wreckage that was on fire.
An old man crouching by the wreckage looked relieved to see him safely away from harm. "Thank you." He said as I put him down by him. I nodded. "Lilly! Are you alright?" I turned.
I was now facing Hadvar, one of the red armored soldiers. I was relieved to see he was alright. "Yes, thank you." I said. He had a sword drawn. He was sweaty, and had dirt and charcoal all over face and armor.
"I'm glad to hear that. Are you the only one who made it?" He asked. I shook my head slowly. "A Stormcloak soldier named Ralof and the Jarl Ulfric made it out. I'm not sure about anyone else. But these two," (I gestured with both hands towards the old man and child) "seem to be alright. But they can't stay here for long." I said.
Hadvar nodded in agreement. "Hadvar, I can get the boy and myself out of here safely." The old man said. Hadvar frowned. Then his face changed like he remembered something. "Yes! That's right! The underground tunnel! Alright, here's the plan," Said Hadvar. "Lilly, you and I will go through the underground tunnel that's under this city. We'll clear it out ahead for these two and anyone else, and then make our way out. Does that sound like a good plan?" He asked.
I thought it was. So I nodded and smiled slightly. "Okay, good. It looks like the coast is clear for now. Alright, you three stay close behind me while we make our way to the underground." Said Hadvar. The three of us nodded. The old man and the child got up and stood behind me. We followed Hadvar.
We ran through the deserted streets filled with fire, chunks of stone, and red armored soldiers. We stopped behind a broken down fiery building as the dragon blew fire right as Hadvar was running towards another clearing.
After the dragon flew away again, we ran to the clearing. We had come to a large but small building.
"That's the underground. We should make get there quick." Said Hadvar, his sword raised.
"Lilly!" I looked to my left and saw Ralof and the Jarl Ulfric standing in the clearing near the underground. They had gotten weapons.
"Ralof you traitor! I should have known!" Hadvar yelled.
I was surprised. Did they know each other? Well, obviously they did; or else Hadvar wouldn't have yelled at him. Or maybe it was because they just tried to behead us all… Yeah, that must've been it.
"Hadvar; Still alive are you? And Lilly? You're alright I hope." Ralof said. I nodded. We all walked a little closer to each other.
"We're going into the underground. Are you coming with us?" Ralof asked; looking at me. I looked at Hadvar. He was staring angrily at Ralof and the Jarl. But when Ralof asked me if I was going with them, he looked at me. "Um, why can't we all just go together? I mean, we'll be better protected with all of us in a group. Plus; I think we can set aside our differences just until we reach safety." I said. Ralof seemed to consider. So did Hadvar. They looked at each other. "She's right. We can set aside our… Situation; until we all reach Riverwood." Said Hadvar. "Yes, and work as a team. But as soon as we reach Riverwood, and I speak with my sister, the Jarl Ulfric and I are going to Windhelm." Said Ralof. "Fine." Hadvar replied. "Let's just get to safety."
When we entered the underground, Hadvar unbound my hands and told me to go find some armor, a weapon, and some potions. I did as I was told; even though I already knew what to do.
We made our way through the place. We came across a few more Stormcloak and Imperial survivors. And then more. But most of them died when we reached the stream. There was a rock slide caused by the Dragon.
They continued on. I was given a bow and some arrows because at some point we ran into a sleeping mama bear. I didn't have the heart to kill her; so we snuck around her.
After a while of jogging through the place, we finally made it out of the underground.
"Hold on, look! There's that Dragon! Hide!" Hadvar whispered.
What was left of us scattered to a hiding place. The dragon roared and flew away, leaving a burning village behind.
